Athrun and Cagalli
by Dark Lavender
Summary: Through it all, he was still Athrun, and she was still Cagalli, nothing more, nothing less. A series of drabbles about Athrun and Cagalli, ranging from GS to GSD and beyond, in no particular order.
1. Chapter 1 - The Return

A/N: As usual, whenever I have to study for something giant, I remember that there is a show that I am dying to watch. This time, it is Gundam Seed, something I had watched years ago. As I watched GS and GSD through, I was reminded of how precious the relationship between Athrun and Cagalli is. In my opinion it is the single most believable and lovable relationships in the series, with the exception of Mwu and Murrue perhaps. Given the rather ambiguous but promising ending that they were given in GSD, I have been itching for days to write my own take on the development of their relationship throughout GS, the years between GS and GSD and finally after Athrun's return to Orb.

I have been troubled over the title for quite some time. But in the end, I feel this is the best, for all I want to do in this story is to sketch their paths through life, perhaps not always together physically, but always watching and guiding each other through their bond.

For those that know my writing elsewhere, you can see that I'm a sucker for this sort of relationships.

This is my clumsy return to fanfiction writing after all these years. I promise you the chapters will get longer and better as I get better acquainted with these two.

Enjoy.

It was impossible to imagine a denouement to a story such as theirs. How does one return to the banality of the quotidian from the edge of destruction?

Kira was a little worse for wear than the two of them, remaining unconscious for days after they had landed in Orb. Despite repeated reassurances of his condition, sitting by his bedside gave the two of them something to hold on to, an element of fear and danger that they could not yet live without.

Some days he would be the first one to be by his bed side, other days she would be the one to glance up and give him an awkward smile. Though neither would admit it, but sitting at lengths on either side of Kira's bed became a pitiful excuse to stay in each other's company. If Kira were to ever find out about his, he would be forever grateful that he was allowed to at least be unconscious through it all.

From the glances that they were able to steal at each other across the bed, it was clear that neither of them were settling well into the life that they could only dream of only days earlier. The contrast between Athrun's hair and face was growing starker each morning Cagalli had found him. And he noticed that her movements took on a blurred quality when she reached for Kira's hand and squeezed.

"Don't you find it strange that we are the ones sitting here every day?"

"Lacus came by a few days ago. She said that it's not going to make Kira wake up faster, and the orphanage needs her."

"Underneath all that, she really is an unbelievable person. Aren't you sorry you lost her to Kira?" She had meant it with some jest, but they both heard the wistfulness in her voice.

"For a while there, yes. She is always kind to me."

The air grew heavier. After some moments of silence, Cagalli scrambled to find something else to say. The promises and tenderness that had passed between them suddenly seemed a little embarrassing under the common light of day. Both of them wondered how much of it they should chalk up to the irrepressible need for comfort amidst all that death and loss, something that now should be laughed off as a silly outburst.

"Do you think he wants to wake up? Where he now, in there? He seems so peaceful, I'm almost envious."

Athrun caught himself looking down at his hands at her words. He pondered at their apparent cleanliness. He knew she was thinking the same thing.

"Probably not. He is such a cry-baby, after all."

"What are we supposed to do?" She asked suddenly, unable to keep it bottled up any longer. "I hear their voices whenever I close my eyes, not giving me a moment of peace, though I'm not sure I deserve it. But when I open my eyes, I realize I'm left all alone, that I won't see them ever again. I really am in a terrible place." She finished with a resigned chuckle.

"It will get easier one day. I had felt the same after my mother died. But," he continued almost bewildered, unable to stop himself, "it doesn't get easier each time it happens."

"I'm sorry."

"That was years ago."

"No-" Then as if thinking the better of it, she clamped her mouth shut. " You sure can be slow for a Coordinator sometimes."

"That so? Well, I suppose I have not been sleeping well either."

"This is your first time on Earth for so long right? Do you find it hard to adjust?" Chitchat came easier.

"No, I am fine." Cagalli will come to discover that this is one of the few things that she should distrust coming out of his mouth. "There is something oddly comforting about being on solid ground, so to speak."

It dawned on her then that a tenuous thread was running through his words, perhaps a realization that was occurring to him too as they talked. One by one, he had lost his attachments to this world: his mother, his friends, his country, his fiancée and finally his father. There was nothing steadfast to hold onto, leaving him bruised and bleeding as his world tossed and turned. Cagalli shook a little when she recalled telling him to not run away. How callous those words had been. How ready he was to die along with Genesis, for he had nothing left in this world.

Suddenly delighted at the possibility of being able to give him something, she impulsively leaned across the bed and met his startled gaze.

"Stay for as long as you'd like. It is my country now. And it will always be yours too."


	2. Chapter 2 - You Can't Go Home Again

The first time he put on his Orb military uniform, he smiled into the mirror. It looks like Cagalli's, he thought. In a childish way, he liked the connection between them. Smiles had been coming easily to Athrun these days.

At the decoration ceremony, when she pinned the admiralty stripes on his lapel, he could see her eyes moisten and her fingers linger almost imperceptibly on his chest. "Orb thank you for your services, Admiral."

And it was then that he was reminded. Cagalli no longer exists, it is just Orb now.

Upon her return and reinstatement as the Head Representative, she arranged for a series of private meetings with the senior staff. She knew there was only one person she had any interest in meeting. But one had to keep up appearances, to others and oneself.

The night before the meeting found her restlessly envisioning countless versions of their re-encounter.

In spite of her better judgment, Cagalli had first been heartened when she heard he decided to remain at Orb. Officially, she would say that there is no man that she could trust more with the protection of her country. But if she was to be truthful, she knew that she missed having him by her side.

She just wanted to see his face and hear his voice, as simple as that.

"Admiral Zala, it is good to see you." She greeted him from behind her desk with a smile that struck the perfect pitch between cool detachment and polite interest. He noted with a slight dismay that she addressed him so, so unlike the old her that always blew his cover by calling him Athrun. She gestured for them to be seated across the tea table.

"How are you finding Orb so far? Is it hard to adjust coming back from space?", she asked airily she filled both of their teacups.

His eyes narrowed. She had asked him something similar back when he landed in Orb after the first war, but the words failed to evoke any remembrance in him. That impulsive girl was no more, instead the Cagalli before him reminded Athrun of his father,

"Not at all, I had lived in Orb for two years before the war, as you may recall." The slight emphasis on the last words gave a hint of his displeasure.

"Ah, my apologies." Her smile faltered for an instant before shifting her gaze out the window and resuming quietly, "I don't know how I could have forgotten that. 'Before the war' seemed a lifetime ago."

They had both pushed each other away in the name of duty. But it was not like they had to, for Kira and Lacus stayed together through it all. If so many things came before love, it couldn't have been very important then after all.

Where do you go from there?


End file.
